Dialogue between characters
by caeciliatheflute
Summary: This is actually for my English class, but I liked it so much I decided to put it on FanFiction. Midsummer Night's Dream, Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Old Man and the Sea, and Button, Button.  Yeah, okay, not really romantic, but whatever.  Enjoy!
1. Part 1

Dialogue Between Characters

_Marie St. Clare and her daughter, Eva, went to the store to purchase a list of things including bread, milk, and cheese. Helena and Hermia were shopping for party food, as it was Helena's birthday party coming up. Manolin was looking for medicine for Santiago (and coffee besides). Mr. Steward was looking for someone to whom to give the button._

"Eva, I'll be in the next aisle over. If you need me, that's where I'll be."

"Of course, Mother," Eva replied kindly. "Do you need your medicine? Would you like me to get it for you?"

"Oh, that would be lovely," Marie St. Clare replied. She handed Eva part of the shopping list, tucked a stray strand of hair behind the twelve-year-old's ear, and departed. Her shopping bag swung in her tight grip by her side.

"Phew!" Eva gasped as soon as her mother was gone. She pulled a piece of pink stationary from the pocket of her long white skirts. The paper was decorated with prints of roses and lilies, and across the top was written in swirly script, "Topsy's Wish List."

The little slave girl didn't know her birthday, but Eva was determined to get her presents anyway. They would share a birthday: May 16th.

The following list was written on the pink stationary:

Roses- yellow

Box of chocolates

Red ribbon

Eva wanted to get those things for Topsy without her mother's noticing. It was to be a tricky feat, for Marie had the eyes of a hawk when it came to deception. However, Eva was sure she could pull it off if she could hide the goods before her mother saw.

A boy about her age was standing in the medicine aisle, looking at cough medicines and aspirin. Eva, who was in the medicine aisle for her mother's wants, made her way over to say hello.

"Are you looking for something specific?" she asked him in interest. Even she couldn't tell if she was feigning or being truthful.

"Yes," he answered. He said nothing more.

Frustrated, Eva persisted, "For whom?"

"My friend." Again, he was silent after that.

"What is your name?" she tried.

"What's yours?"

"My name," she told him, trying not to get angry, "is Eva St. Clare."

"I'm Manolin."

"What's your surname?"

"Oh, grow up," he snapped.

"I _beg_ your pardon!" Eva gasped indignantly. "I only asked your-"

"Oh, look, Helena, candy!" came a new voice.

_Who is that?_ Eva wondered silently, no longer speaking. _Or, rather, who are they?_

Two girls about her age ran into the aisle, giggling. They stopped to look at the cough drops.

"Let's see, Hermia. They have cherry, honey, and mint candy," a girl with long brown hair told her blonde friend. The brunette was taller, but the blonde was a bit prettier.

"That isn't candy," Manolin pointed out to them. "They're cough drops."

Eva knew what he was thinking: _grow up_.

"Who are _you_?" the brunette asked rudely. To Eva, it sounded almost like an accusation.

"My name is Manolin. And you are?" the boy returned just as contemptuously.

"Helena. My name is Helena, and this is Hermia," the brunette retorted.

"This is Eva St. Clare," Manolin volunteered. Eva's face grew red and hot: why would he tell the two girls _her _name?

"Manolin!" she protested.

"Oh, grow up," he ordered her again. "So what if two strangers know your name? They're _girls_, anyway!"

Eva drew herself up to her full height and gave him the what-for. "In case you haven't noticed, _Manolin_, I'm a girl, too. So I suggest you take your own advice and grow _up_!"

To add emphasis, she glared at him in a very imposing manner. He paled a bit, and she was secretly satisfied.

"I… I-" he stuttered. She sniffed and turned to the other girls, who had been pretending to look at the cough drops during the fight.

"Boys are such losers," she sneered, being uncharacteristically mean. Hermia and Helena just smiled and shook their heads.

"I don't think you understand, Eve," Hermia sighed. She sounded as though she was talking to a five-year-old. Eva felt very much like a bird whose feathers had been ruffled the wrong way.

"My name," she growled, "is Eva. It is _not_ Eve."

"No, Eve, you wouldn't understand," echoed Helena as though she hadn't heard Eva at all. Eva figured she probably hadn't and was enormously disgusted with the other girls.

"What do you two know about _boys_?" she asked, annoyed and frustrated. She was also a bit curious, though she would die before showing it.

"Well, _I'm_ courting a _gorgeous_ boy named Etri- I mean, Demetrius," Helena cooed. "That is to say, _he's _courting _me_."

"Lysander's my man," giggled Hermia.

_Humph. You're hardly older than me_, Eva thought.

"Is that all you know about guys? Please!" Manolin scoffed.

"What would _you _know?" Eva repeated without thinking.

"Uh, he-LLO! I just so happen to _be_ a boy, Miss Eva," Manolin replied. "So really, the joke's on you."

"There's no _joke_," Eva muttered hotly, feeling her face flush again. "So tell me, Mr. Manolin," she returned loudly, "what _is _the secret to boys?"

"Now, why would I tell you that? I suggest you-"

"Oh, shut up and take your own advice," Eva grumbled. He did, but made a face at her retreating back. She had found her mother's medicine and was trying to find the yellow roses.

"Oh, here they are," she mumbled to herself. She took a dozen long-stemmed roses, turned around, and nearly bumped into a man holding something towards her. There was a wooden box in his outstretched hand, and in the center was a big red button.


	2. Part 2

Eva screamed.

* * *

><p>Manolin was in a disagreement with Helena and Hermia when he heard Eva's scream. He recognized her vocals and told the girls quickly, "It's Eva!" When they looked at him in confusion, he rolled his eyes and amended, "I think I mean <em>Eve<em>?"

"Ohh!" the two gasped, not only understanding but also a bit concerned.

"I wonder what's wrong," Hermia whimpered lugubriously. She meant every word, but she was so _very_ theatrical!

"No time for that, let's go!" Manolin snapped, dropping the box of pills he was carrying, grabbing Helena by the arm, and running in the direction of Eva's scream. Hermia gave another little "Oh!" and followed them.

* * *

><p>"Hello, dearie. Are you alone?" the strange man with the box asked Eva. She shook, feeling chills go down her spine.<p>

"N-no?" she whispered, feeling very scared indeed. "I mean, _no_, I am not alone." _And I'll thank YOU to be less creepy_, she thought with a shudder. _I mean, THOSE pants with THAT shirt is a crime against nature!_

"Are you with your daddy, sweetie?"

"_No_," she answered firmly. "I am with-" She stopped. "Quite unrelated to the subject at hand, _Mister_…?"

"Steward, if it please," he replied with a tip of his hat. She frowned.

"So what do you wan-"

"Eva!"

Manolin rushed up to the young tween, dragging Helena behind him. Hermia jogged behind them both, panting, "Wait up!"

"Eva!" Manolin repeated, rushing up to her and releasing Helena. He grasped both of her hands in his. "Are you all right?" he asked, concerned.

"I'm fine," she replied, turning back to Mr. Steward. "I just want to see what this man wants. So what _do_ you want?" she accosted him again.

"Miss Eva, is it?" She glared at him as he tipped his hat again, but nodded stiffly. "Well, I have quite a deal for you. If you push this button, _you_ will get twenty-five _thousand_ dollars. Wait, no- _fifty thousand dollars_! It's quite a deal, is it not?"

Eva sucked in her breath. "What's the catch? There's always a catch."

"Someone you don't know will die."

"Don't do it, Eva!" Manolin protested. "To kill an innocent person is- well… it's _salao_!"

"I think it's a great idea, Eve," Hermia cut in. "You know- girl to girl?" Helena and Hermia both gave Eva the thumbs up, grinning.

"My name," Eva corrected, gritting her teeth, "is Ev_a_."

"Well, little lady, I'd like a decision," Mr. Steward intervened. Eva looked in horror at the people she had just met.

"I guess it's all a part of growing up," Helena sighed rather theatrically.

"Or did something make her change?" Hermia tittered. Eva and Manolin looked at her strangely. "Oh, it's from _Seussical the Musical_," she informed them dismissively. The two best friends, Helena and Hermia, giggled.

_Nerds_, Manolin mouthed at Eva.

"Oh, grow up," Eva told him. "I'm _sick_ of you! I'm sick of your attitude, sick of you thinking you're _oh so cool_, sick of your… of your voice!" She glared at him again._ Why, oh, why did I say that to him?_ she cried internally. She didn't know why. She knew she didn't like him at all…

"I'm sorry."

She stared at him, stunned. "_What_ did you just say?"

"I said I'm sorry. Please believe me, Eva, I'm more sorry than you could imagine. Please forgive me." He looked at her with such a sad face that she let out a groan of discontent.

"Aargh! Fine. You have a clean slate."

"I guess we've all grown up today," he told her, grinning. "Well, maybe not them," he added, hooking a thumb at the two Athenian girls. They didn't seem to hear, thankfully.

"Miss Eva, I need a choice," Mr. Steward broke in.

"Of course." She turned to face him. "I choose no."

"What?"

"I choose no," she repeated. "I don't need fifty thousand dollars. A life is worth more than that. Good day."

She turned on her heel, leaving a stunned and spluttering Mr. Steward behind her. She had made three new friends (maybe one of them better than the others), and she had the things she needed. Maybe the candy wasn't as important, but she had roses, a red ribbon tied around them, and her mother's medicine. She flashed Manolin a smile and walked back over to her mother's aisle. "Ready, Mother," she said with a grin.

"Oh, did you get what you need?" Marie asked.

"I got everything," Eva replied.

* * *

><p><strong>Epilogue<strong>

"_Eva St. Clare! Where did you get those roses?_" Marie screeched.

The End


End file.
